Marine versus Curzon Ashton – Saturday 14th September 2013 by Frazer...

This week’s drive over was an odd mix of nostalgia and frustration at the repeat of question time on radio 4...Oh and a bag of chocolate éclairs. The nostalgia was passing the five-a-side ground where my last attempt at competitive football took place. This ill fated attempt resulted in my side being 22-0 down at half time (each half was only 10 minutes). We stopped the rot in the second half however with the game ending 29-1 with me having scored. I think this is an indication of the passion and competitiveness of football of all levels in Liverpool. I won’t put the Shankly quote in here as everyone knows it anyway. Traffic to Marine was not good so only got parked up at 2.45. The ground consisted of a main stand with terracing and a covered seating area; a covered terrace down the left and an away terrace at the far end.

First half I thought I’d go to the far end as it was a beautiful sunny day. At the toss Marine were defending the away end. As the match kicked off I feared it was going to be a one sided affair as Marine made much of the early play and Curzon seemed not able to get hold of the ball, Marine were passing well and created a couple of good early chances.  However Curzon opened the scoring in the 16th minute as they began to settle. It got worse for Marine at 20 minutes as Curzon hit the back of the net for the second time. Marine fought back well and got one back 8 minutes later – it was 1-2 at half time.

The second half started and 4 minutes later Curzon went 1-3 up. Once again though Marine came back into it and on 57 minutes it was 2-3. After that, there were few chances for either side and Curzon put the tie to bed in the 86^th Minute with another goal....Final whistle leaving it Marine 2- Curzon 4    

Attendance: 233.

It was £10 to get in and £2 for a Program. £3.10 for a Guinness and £1.10 for a cup of tea; was a big cup of tea mind!

By Frazer Sanderson

I would like to personally thank Frazer for going to the game.  He’s thrown a pint of Guinness into the mix and an expensive cup of tea (10p more than previous, but like Frazer said – it was a big one).  

It is a shame that Frazer didn’t get to meet Dave McMillan and I want to thank Dave again for his help with our blog.  I will be saying goodbye to The Arriva Stadium for 2013/14.

It is excellent Geeky Stats time:-

RIP Stadiums and teams from The Giant Killing Adventure - 16th September 2013

RIP Team	RIP Stadium
St Helens Town	Brocstedes Park
Ashton Athletic	Brocstedes Park
Marine FC	The Arriva Stadium

The Giant Killing Adventure number of fans – 16th September 2013

Team	Stadium	Round	Fans
Marine FC	The Arriva Stadium	1st Qualifying	223
Curzon Ashton	Tameside Stadium	Preliminary	101
St Helens Town	Brocstedes Park	Extra Preliminary	71
Ashton Athletic	Brocstedes Park	Extra Preliminary	58

The Giant Killing Adventure League table for FA prize money – 16th September 2013

Team	Prize money/Round	Total Winnings
Curzon Ashton	£1925 Preliminary Round £3000 1St Qualifying Round	£4925
Ashton Athletic	£1500 Extra Preliminary Round	£1500

Extra Preliminary Round £277,500 was paid in prize money (185 winners).

Preliminary Round £308,000 was paid out (160 winners).

1^st Qualifying Round £348,000 was paid out (116 winners).

The Giant Killing Adventure Program Price league table (cheapest first) – 16th September 2013

Team	Program Cost
Curzon Ashton 31st August	£1.60
St Helens Town 17th August	£2.00
Marine FC 14th September	£2.00

The Giant Killing Adventure Top 10 Leading Goal Scorers – 16th September 2013

Matt Warburton           3 (Curzon Ashton)

Chris McDonagh          2 (Curzon Ashton)

Simon Lakeland           2 (Curzon Ashton)

Adam Gilchrist             2 (Ashton Athletic) 

Ryan Brooke               1 (Curzon Ashton)

Will Jones                    1 (Marine FC)

Sam Barnes                 1 (Marine FC)

Neil Weaver                1 (St Helens Town)

Greg Harrison              1 (St Helens Town)

Nathan Ward               1 (Ashton Athletic)

The Giant Killing Adventure League table – 16th September 2013

Team	Won	Drawn	Goals For	Goals Against	GD	Points
Curzon Ashton	2	0	8	2	6	6
Ashton Athletic	1	1	3	6	-3	4
St Helens Town	0	1	2	3	-1	1
Marine FC	0	0	2	4	-2	0

So far the Giant Killing Adventure has reported on 360 minutes of football, £45 on the turnstiles, 453 fans, 15 goals, 3 pints of bitter (£7.40), 1 pint of Guinness (£3.10), 5 £1 cups of tea, 1 £1.10 cup of tea (large), 1 ham and pease pudding stottie, 2 £16.50 Lobsters, 4 2-4-1 cocktails, 1 City Break, 1 Sandy picnic battle, 1 Marine FC website promise, 1 lower-league-victory and the journey has travelled 88 miles from the FA Cup’s current home in Wigan.

Curzon Ashton has drawn a home tie with Lancaster City in the 2nd Qualifying Round of the 2013/14 FA Cup.  Join me again to learn more about the next round and more about Lancaster City.  The match is currently due to be played on Saturday 28th September 2013...